Auburn Hills, Mich. – With its grand opening just weeks away, Honor Community Health and Avondale Schools recently came together to celebrate its partnership and the dedication of Honor’s newly-renovated school-based health center at Avondale High School – to a long-time district school board member and advocate for every student.
A plaque commemorating the Cynthia E. Tischer Child and Adolescent Health Center was unveiled in front of family, friends and current and former Avondale school board members in a small ceremony Saturday outside the health center, whose services will be available to all students and those up to 21 years of age, within Avondale Schools and the surrounding community.
“Cynthia’s focus was on the whole student, making sure we were taking care of their mental and physical well-being,” said Avondale Schools board president Terry Lang, one of a handful of speakers at the event. “Having an opportunity like this, where Honor Community Health comes into our district – within a mile of two Title I schools, where our most needy elementary students are – really is going to make these services dovetail nicely into the legacy that Cynthia left behind and that our current board is trying to live up to.”
Tischer, who passed away in 2017, served on the Avondale Board of Education for 22 years, and prior to that, was a member and president of the R. Grant Elementary PTO, while also volunteering tirelessly wherever a need arose in any Avondale School District school or program. She dedicated her life to serving the academic, physical, mental and emotional health of all Avondale students, prioritizing the underprivileged and underrepresented learner.
School officials felt that Tischer’s mission, and her passion, aligned with that of Honor Community Health’s, which made the dedication of the health center in her name a natural fit.
“Over the course of her career with Avondale Schools, Mrs. Tischer inspired many as a fierce advocate for underserved students and families, recognizing the significant impact social factors have in one’s ability to learn, grow and thrive,” said Melissa Brown, who leads the school-based programs for Honor and spoke at the dedication. “She was a trailblazer – consistently creating new solutions and driving policy and funding to address complex problems and issues related to social determinants of health that many Avondale students and families continue to face today. It is a privilege for us here at Honor Community Health to carry out Cynthia’s legacy through the delivery of quality, person-centered and family-centered care and services in the new Avondale School-Based Health Center.”
Honor operates 11 school-based health centers across Oakland County, including those in Auburn Hills, Ferndale, Pontiac, Rochester Hills and Waterford Township.
The Avondale center will now provide both behavioral and primary health care for students, including well child services, childhood immunizations and vaccines, including COVID-19, and more.
“Not only will we be able to provide care and services to all children and adolescents (ages 5 through 21) from the Avondale School community, but we will be able to support parents or other family members over the age of 21 in need of care by connecting them to one of our non school-based Honor Community Health locations,” Brown said.
The Avondale School-Based Health Center is open and accepting appointments. To make an appointment, please call 248-724-7600.